Encompass Africa safari specialist celebrates 10 years

10 amazing years: A celebration of the EA journey so far

As 2019 draws to a close and we look towards 2020, we’re reflecting on a pretty special year. It was a big one for Encompass Africa: in July, we turned 10!

That’s right, 10 years of organising amazing adventures for our clients… and having a few epic adventures ourselves! Ten years of developing deep and lasting relationships with incredible camps, lodges and other companies in Africa. Places that share the same passions and values for conservation and sustainable travel as EA. Ten years of building a business we can be sincerely proud of – oh, and we had a couple of kids along the way as well! And we wouldn’t change a moment of any of it (well, except perhaps some of the sleepless nights!).

Over the past decade we have helped more than 10,000 guests visit 24 countries in our beloved Africa, and we look forward to introducing even more people to the delights of this wild and wonderful continent in the years ahead.

But these days it’s not just about seeing the Big Five or other endangered animals. It’s about seeing them before they’re gone forever. Like everywhere on the planet, things are critical, but we’re still hopeful. We’re still doing everything we can, and our motto is still: “Making a difference, one safari at a time”.

We work with companies that have been set up to give back to local communities, wildlife and wilderness areas. It means that every time you travel, Africa benefits. We’re also raising money back here in Australia, as well.

In 2018/19 alone we raised $10,000, thanks to our client referral program, Hearten Africa, and an auction we hosted earlier in the year in conjunction with Angama Mara and featuring images from the inaugural Greatest Maasai Mara Photographer of the Year competition.

This money has been put to fantastic, practical use:

• Masai Mara conservation initiatives (through the Angama Mara Foundation)
• A community garden being constructed in the village of Mambanje outside Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, to help improve access to fresh water and methods of nutritional food security in an area prone to drought (through the African Bush Camp Foundation)
• The purchase and transportation of a good-quality solar fridge to support a chicken health program in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This will help make the project sustainable, as it will mean that vaccinations can be stored for much longer locally, reducing the need to travel from Kinshasa, where the vaccinations are produced, to Mbuji-Mayi where the project is located – a distance of 1,000 kilometres (through PiCCA: Partners in International Collaborative Community Aid)

Our next big goal? To raise $100,000 over the next decade to help support and preserve Africa’s precious wildlife, wilderness areas and local communities.

Thanks to all of our amazing clients who have supported Encompass Africa – some of you since day one – and continue to help with this important and ongoing fundraising mission.